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ANTIREFILLING'DEVIGE FOB. BOTTLES. No. 533,628. Patent ed Feb. 1895.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Fries.

VICTOR OT BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF TVV'O- THIRDSTO-l JOSIAH QUINCY AND WOOD, HARMON 8c 00., OF SAME PLACE.

ANTIREFILLING DEVICE FOR BOTTLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 533,628, dated February 5, .l 895.

Application filed August 20,1894 Serial No. 520,752. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, VICTOR Bnnanenn, of Boston, in the county of Sufiolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Antirefilling Devices for Bottles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for preventing the refilling of bottles with a spurious article which have originally contained proprietary liquids. A device of this kind must be proof against various ways of holding and manipulating the bottle, and the numerous arrangements heretofore devised have in most cases proved defective for this reason. With many of these prior devices, it has been found that by laying the bottle on its side and submerging it in theliquid with which it is to be filled, and then moving it back and forth, the filling can be accomplished; or a certain angle of inclination can be found at which the liquid can gain access to the interior of the bottle, either by flowing in from a body of the liquid in which the bottle is partially submerged or by being forced in.

My invention provides a device which is proof against any such manipulation of the bottle, and is well calculated to absolutely prevent ingress of liquid into the bottle.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an embodiment of the invention and form part of this specification.

Figure 1 shows a sectional view of the device in a bottle with the latter represented as standing upright. Fig. 2 shows a similar section with the bottle represented as lying on its side. Fig. 3 shows the same with the bot- 'tle represented as inverted. Fig. 4 shows a side view of the closure detached.

The letter, a, designates a bottle of any ordinary form such, for example, as commonly used to contain spirituous liquors as whisky, brandy and cordials. I

It is customary for the proprietor of a certain brand of liquor to apply that brand to the bottles containing the liquor, but when a bottle becomes empty there is ordinarily nothing to prevent its being refilled with a diderout and inferior article which can be dispensed as the genuine, much to the injury of the pro prietor of the genuine article. The importance of some provision to absolutely prevent the refilling of a bottle which originally contains a proprietary liquid, will therefore be readily recognized.

In carrying out my invention I prefer to form the bottle in the blowing thereof, (or it maybe done subsequently,) with an internal annular rib or flange, a, at or near the base of the neck, which rib or flange constitutes a means for locking the closure presently to be described, in the neck of the bottle. This closure comprises a substantially tubular casing which occupies a portion of the neck of the bottle and is composed of an enlarged outer portion or head, 1), having perforations, b, in its sides and being closed over on top, a central tapering portion, 17 ,2. short straight portion, 12 with perforations, b and a flaring end-portion or cup, 19 Between the portions, 12 and, h of this tubularcasing there is formed a flange, b and between the latter and the base of the head, 5, there is fitted a cork ring or washer, c, of frusto-conical form and of such size as to require its compression to force it down the neck of the bottle. The tubular casing is inserted in the neck of the bottle with its open end foremost and is forced through the neck until the cork-washer, c, has been pressed part way past the internal rib, a, which embeds itself in the cork, as shown. The diameter of the head, 2), at its base is greater than the internal diameter of the rib, a, so that it is impossible to force the casing beyond a certain point, and it can never be pushed into the bottle. When the tubular casing is in proper position, the lower larger portion of the cork-washer, 0, will be so far expanded beyond the rib, a, and the latter will be so embedded in the cork, that the drawing of the casing out of the bottle-neck is rendered wellnigh impossible. When the tubular casing has thus been secured in the bottle-neck its flaring end-portion, 32 projects into the body of the bottle and there is considerable space all around between it and the sides of the bottle. The head, b, so nearly fills the neck of the bottle as to leave but a very narrow space all around between it and the walls of the neck, and this makes access to the interior of the casing extremely difficult and effectually guards against the introduction of a tool which could be used to draw the casing out of the neck.

Through a suitable opening, at, in the side of the head, b, there is introduced a valve, (1, of rubber or other suitable material, which valve has the common form of a rubber stopper and engages the central tapering portion, W, of the tubular casing, while its flange is adapted to seat on the base of the head, I). There is sufficient spacewithin the head, I), for the valve to move entirely out of the taporing portion, 22 of the casing (see Fig. 3) and open a passage between said portion of the casing and the perforations, b, and opening, d".

As a means for holding the valve to its seat, I employ a weight in the form of a ball, 6, which is suspended within the bottle by means of a chain, 6 connectin it with the.

valve. The ball is formed with an arm, 8 to which the chain attaches and the length of the chain is such as to cause said arm to bear on the edge of the cup, 6 as a fulcrum when the bottle is turned on its side. (See Fig. 2.) The ball may lodge in the cup when the bottle is inverted, as shown in Fig. 3, and then the chain isslackened and the valve may unseat.

Of course, this closure is inserted after the bottle has been filled with the proprietary liquid, and it will be understood that a cork is used in the end of the neck, as ordinarily.

To pour the liquid out of the bottle, the bottle must be inverted, as shown in Fig. 3, and the ball, 6, lodged in the cup, Z1 The liquid may then pass out through the orifices, b and, 11, into the neck of the bottle. It is evident that so long as the bottle stands upright as in Fig. 1, no liquid can gain access to the interior for the suspended weight holds the valve closed and moreover the pressure of any liquid put into the neck will tend to seat the valve.

It is quite evident that no liquid can. enter the bottle when it is inverted as in Fig. 3, and submerged, for there is no escape for the air in the bottle. The bottle cannot be tipped sidewise from this inverted position sufficiently to allow the escape of air, without the ball, e, rolling out of the cup, 19 by reason of the sharp obliquity of its sides. When the bottle is turned sidewise and the ball rolls out of the cup, the arm, e comes to bear on the edge of the cup, (see Fig. 2,) and this edge then constitutes a fulcrum and the arm be comes a lever with the ball, e, at one end acting more forcibly than ever to seat the valve. By the cup projecting into the bottle as previously described, ample space is provided for the ball to drop sidewise without striking the sides of the bottle. It will now be seen that any attempts to fill the v bottle while lying sidewise will be frustrated.

With some of the devices heretofore produced employing a weighted valve, it has been found that by moving the bottle to and fro while held sidewise and submerged, liquid can be gotten into it by reason of the momentary unseating of the valve when the bottle is moved in a direction to relieve it of the 4 weight. This cannot, however, be done with mydevice, for with the bottle held as illustrated in Fig. 2, a to-and-fro movement will only rock the arm, 6 on its fulcrum and the valve cannot open. It is therefore important that the connection between the valve and the weight be not a rigid one throughout such as to make the valve feel'every movement of the weight, and at the same time there must be the rigid arm on the weight to establish the desired leverage. The flexible connection in the form of the chain, c, not only is ad vantageous in the above explained connection but it also permits the ball to roll out of the cup so that its quick escape therefrom is not prevented by friction as it would he did it have to slide out.

What I claim as my invention is as follows:

In an anti-refilling device for bottles, the combination of a casing fitting tightly in the neck of the bottle and having an'internal valve-seat and'openings on opposite sides of the same,and formed with a flaring inner endportion or cup which projects inward beyond the neck of the bottle; a valve arranged in conjunction with said seat and having an attached chain or like flexible device on the inner side; and a ball-weight having a rigid arm attached to the said chain, said ball being beyond the inner end of the casing and adapted to lodge in the cup when the bottle is inverted and to roll out of the same when the bottle is turned on one side, and the chain being of a length to cause the rigid arm of the ball to find a fulcrum in the edge of the cup.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 16th day of August, A. D. 1894.

VICTOR BELANGER.

Witnesses:

HORACE BRowN, F. P. DAVIS. 

